[Pkg-exim4-users] Dropping support for users of Debianhowto-vexim

[Phillip Baker]

> Actually, the clean way to do it would be to have their own 
> package, exim4-config-debianhowto-vexim, which plugs into our 
> packages and replaces our exim4-config in its entirety. In 
> that case, people are free to do what they want, and to 
> provide their own support.

About four seconds after I pressed send I thought about just having a
package with vexim in. :P

> I do not object to the HOWTO, I do not object to the way it 
> switches our magic off, but I do object to offloading their 
> support burden to us, and to the fact that they seem to 
> attract a BIG bunch of completely clueless newbies who do not 
> even spare the time to read the HOWTO and don't have the 
> necessary background.

Is debianhowto.de actually sending them to us purposefully or are they just
making their own way here? I think it's fair to put a warning that we are
not a vexim support group and that if they are having problems with making
exim interact with vexim (on debian or not) that they should look at the
vexim mailing list at silverwraith.com


> > This would be an overreaction. Vexim isn't your problem. 
>
> But it quickly becomes my problem when 50 % of incoming 
> newbie requests come from vexim users who think that the 
> nifty web interface saves them from accumulating and 
> knowledge about e-mail and exim basics.

Sorry - that's not what I meant - what I meant was that vexim itself wasn't
the source of the problem, mostly the howto.
 

> The issue is that HOWTOs are prone to make people do things 
> they are not qualified to do.

Well, that... but there are plenty of qualified lazy people who like the
handy nature of howtos in that they just list the barebones required to get
going. But they won't be the ones sending you silly questions ;)
 
> Hosting surely is not a problem, but dedicating time might. I 
> surely don't have any available to provide newbie-level 
> documentation for a software package I don't use myself, and 
> having to do this in two languages (otherwise, 
> German-language people would continue using the 
> debianhowto.de HOWTO because they're too lazy to read english text).

Well, I invite anyone who does use vexim successfully who would have time to
do so to perhaps look at contributing debian specific notes to the vexim
wiki on silverwraith.com, perhaps.

Regards,
Phillip Baker
LCHost Chief Technical Officer
phil at lchost.co.uk
0870 068 HOST ext 50